The Association of Iranian Journalists has accused Labour Minister Ali Rabii of preventing the reopening of the organization.

HRANA reports that a statement from the association alleges that the minister is using indirect policies to prevent the organization from resuming its activities.

The association maintains that the minister has not only refrained from rescinding the illegal decisions of the former administration to shut it down, he is also trying to launch a new state-sponsored organization to replace it.

The association calls on President Hassan Rohani to remove the obstacles to reopening the journalists’ association in accordance with his election campaign promise.

The Association of Iranian Journalists was shut down by order of then-Tehran Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi during the election protests of 2009. At the time, it had 4,000 members.